The present invention relates generally to communication systems and, in particular, to initiating a communication using caller-related information obtained from voice mail.
Radiotelephone communication systems are prevalent and widely used today. Such systems use fixed network equipment (FNE) connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to provide telephony services to communication units located within the systems. Some radiotelephone systems also include a short message service center (SMSC) as part of the system""s FNE, thereby integrating short message service (SMS) with telephony services. In radiotelephone communication systems that have SMS integrated with telephony services, a communication unit user may receive an SMS page and then call the telephone number indicated in a displayed SMS message using the same communication unit. One known technique to allow a user to call the telephone number displayed in the SMS message is for the communication unit user to select an SMS message and to initiate a call to a telephone number contained in that message by pressing a single key on the communication unit. Responsive to the depressed key, the communication unit searches the SMS message for a digit string indicative of the telephone number and automatically initiates a call to the found telephone number. Thus, the user is freed from the inconvenience of having to dial the number manually.
Besides providing SMS, radiotelephone communication systems also provide voice mail services. Users of radiotelephone systems that provide voice mail service often receive voice mail in which a telephone number is given orally for returning the call. In some voice mail systems, such as the voice mail system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,805, the user of the communication unit can request that the voice mail system dial the telephone number given in the voice mail. Such voice mail systems employ known speech recognition technology to convert spoken numbers into digits from which to dial. Accordingly, the user is freed from having to write down or memorize the telephone number while listening to his or her voice mail, both of which are inconvenient options for a user on-the-move.
However, if the user does not want to return the call immediately, the voice mail containing the phone number must remain in the user""s mailbox and the user must again access the voice mail system in order to have the telephone number automatically dialed. Consequently, the voice mail must remain stored in the user""s voice mailbox until the telephone number is no longer needed for dialing purposes. Keeping voice mail in a mailbox consumes voice mail system resources. In addition, each time the stored number is needed for dialing, the user must access the voice mailbox and sort through the mailbox to find the appropriate voice mail. To access his or her voice mailbox, the user typically must call the voice mail system, enter a mailbox number, and enter a password. Thus, accessing the voice mail system repeatedly is time-consuming and may result in air-time charges for the user. Further, the time taken to sort through and find the appropriate voice mail diminishes the convenience achieved by automatic dialing.
Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and method for initiating a communication in a communication system that provides for automatic dialing of stored voice mail telephone numbers, but that does not require a user to access the voice mail system repeatedly to call the same number.